NTSC-UKers abroad: How do you get your gaming on?

[MisterKIKI]

My job's taken me to Saudi Arabia, but it didn't stop me from taking my Xbox360 along with me, especially since I knew I'd end up in an industry heavy region and there might be nothing else to do. Surprisingly, I came across a few shops stocking legit games, mainly for PC, PAL 360s and NTSC PS3s.

Being the gamer that I am, I'm actually using some of my living allowance to buy games, although I only bought Command & Conquer and Fable 2 Ltd editions. There are also some rare games to be found, like a sealed ICO (digipak version) in a random music shop. I was told that there'd only be pirated games at most, but I'm quite pleased by this.

Still, I'm missing out on all the bargains back in the UK. I've started to "import" from the UK. HMV aren't too bad. Took them 2 weeks to ship Pure. Sadly, play.com and Shopto won't ship outside of Europe.

Anyone else in exotic locations? How are you coping?

[fahrenheit]

Sadly, play.com and Shopto won't ship outside of Europe.

Well this suddenly explains why they wouldn't accept my Visa.
They gave me all the options to sign up and put in my New Zealand details, but as soon as I try and make a purchase, it gives a message 'Your card issuer won't let us take da monies...'
My bank confirmed they didn't even attempt a debit.

Muppets.

[Darwock]

I never figured out how to import from the UK, I never expected places like HMV to do it actually. I switched to buying US & JPN stuff from Play-asia mostly, as they give free shipping to Japan and I trust them following years of importing into the UK.

[fahrenheit]

Gameplay has been my only real option for UK imports (thats me importing from the UK) in the past and I've been fairly happy with the service.

Its a shame they aren't discounting as ruthlessly as the others have been, cause the US dollar/prices on playasia etc are currently not what I'd consider viable.

[Darwock]

Hmmm well I haven't imported anything since the launch of MGS4, so yeah I'd probably think twice about using them in the current climate.

[DeathAdder]

I never figured out how to import from the UK, I never expected places like HMV to do it actually. I switched to buying US & JPN stuff from Play-asia mostly, as they give free shipping to Japan and I trust them following years of importing into the UK.

Same here - it's an awesome service they offer if you live in Japan. The only snag is finding the odd title that only exists in rare corners of PALland, like cricket games.

[Btang84]

When I was in Hong Kong, the prices for new games on all formats were great. It would be extremely rare for a new release to exceed ?30. I even bought Burnout Paradise in February of this year for ?23.

I was also stationed in Shanghai and I was thinking that I'd have to import GTA4 and MGS4 when they came out, but I was lucky enough to chance upon a shop which sold both games for around the ?30 mark and both sealed.

I don't know how long you've been there, but definitely look out for stockists that sell the games at reasonable prices. There will almost certainly be mainly places that will inflate the figure, especially if you are a foreigner, but that practice isn't always too widespread. Importing always has the hassle of the wait, the price will be far more and the customs may take your games.

[DeathAdder]

as soon as I try and make a purchase, it gives a message 'Your card issuer won't let us take da monies...'

Please, please tell me it uses those exact words.

[capcom_suicide]

I'm in Norway. Games that cost ?18 delivered from Play.com cost ?65 here.

Our import limit for "Shop" items is ?20, so I've been using play a lot! It takes 4-10 days to arrive.

I also tend to buy secondhand from here.

The UK must be one the cheapest places on the planet for games I would think.

For NTSC /J stuff I use Play-Asia, but that's been limited to a Famicom Micro and a few GBA carts these past years.

For NTSC - U/C stuff I just buy when I visit the Houston office.

[Paulos G]

I've been in the US since the end of August. Brought my HDD with me and bought a US 360 Arcade unit a week or so after I got here. The exchange rate was around 1.8 then so new games weren't too bad and I managed to get some cheap second hand games from eBay US.

Managed to get Namco Museum Virtual Arcade which I don't think has been released in the UK. I got it when released for $29.99. Only $21.65 now! I'll test for region freeness when I'm back.

Rate's around 1.4 now so not bothering buying much at the moment (plus I'll be back in the UK on the 21st). A 30 day free trial from Gamefly helped me through the bad exchange rate.

I will miss the uber interweb connection I've been getting at Yale University though!

[NemesiS]

I live and work in Dubai but my job takes me all round the middle and far East. Games in Dubai in particular are extortionate. 269AED for any new console game, which at the moment is working out at about £53 per game . So i don't buy in Dubai. I have never looked for games when i have been in working in Saudi so don't know what they sell for there?

I generally buy off forums like this and then get them shipped out. There is no real second hand games market in the Middle East other than a few forums and one auction site called Souq. Even then, with the exchange rate being as it is, even the second hand stuff weighs in at more than a new one would cost here. I was considering setting up a second hand game store for trade-ins etc, but tbh, people, locals especially, have so much money to spend that they wouldn't even consider buying second hand.

But as the first poster who lives in Saudi said; you can pick up a lot of gaming special editions here as they seem to get loads in stock. Just recently in Sharaf DG (an electronics/games retailer over here) they had all the special editions of Fallout 3, Fable 2, LBP, GoW 2 etc etc, whilst still having massive stocks of Halo 3 legendary box sets, Bio-Shock box sets, WoW Box sets etc. The daft thing though is that the Boxsets tend to be the same price as the normal editions, lol. They have no concept of what collectors editions are all about.

I have also seen older games which are highly collectable over here in bargain bins in supermarkets going for about (10-50AED) £2-10.

They also cater for PAL and NTSC -U for all systems, Wii at the mo being NTSC-U only, though they have now got a PAL distributor for the system.

Also i havn't seen any pirated games for sale anywhere, even in Karama where all the "authentic fake" bling handbags, clothes and watches are sold. Only pirate DVD's , just like manchester.

[DeathAdder]

I live and work in Dubai but my job takes me all round the middle and far East. Games in Dubai in particular are extortionate. 269AED for any new console game, which at the moment is working out at about ?53 per game . So i don't buy in Dubai. I have never looked for games when i have been in working in Saudi so don't know what they sell for there?

I generally buy off forums like this and then get them shipped out. There is no real second hand games market in the Middle East other than a few forums and one auction site called Souq. Even then, with the exchange rate being as it is, even the second hand stuff weighs in at more than a new one would cost here. I was considering setting up a second hand game store for trade-ins etc, but tbh, people, locals especially, have so much money to spend that they wouldn't even consider buying second hand.

But as the first poster who lives in Saudi said; you can pick up a lot of gaming special editions here as they seem to get loads in stock. Just recently in Sharaf DG (an electronics/games retailer over here) they had all the special editions of Fallout 3, Fable 2, LBP, GoW 2 etc etc, whilst still having massive stocks of Halo 3 legendary box sets, Bio-Shock box sets, WoW Box sets etc. The daft thing though is that the Boxsets tend to be the same price as the normal editions, lol. They have no concept of what collectors editions are all about.

I have also seen older games which are highly collectable over here in bargain bins in supermarkets going for about (10-50AED) ?2-10.

They also cater for PAL and NTSC -U for all systems, Wii at the mo being NTSC-U only, though they have now got a PAL distributor for the system.

Also i havn't seen any pirated games for sale anywhere, even in Karama where all the "authentic fake" bling handbags, clothes and watches are sold. Only pirate DVD's , just like manchester.

Pirated games can be found at the little kiosks selling games and electronics in some of the older supermarkets / smaller department stores, like the Co-op on al Wasl Road and Lampseys. I was really excited to find a cricket game on GBA once but the back of the box showed baseball screen shots.

[NemesiS]

Pirated games can be found at the little kiosks selling games and electronics in some of the older supermarkets / smaller department stores, like the Co-op on al Wasl Road and Lampseys. I was really excited to find a cricket game on GBA once but the back of the box showed baseball screen shots.

I have never seen them in almost 3 years although i know about the kiosks your talking about. You get them outside festival city, Hyperpanda and the electronics place in Bur Dubai. Also are we talking cartridges here or DVD rips? I've seen plenty of GBA pirate cartridges but not stuff for 360, PS3 etc. Dragon Mart does all the cartridges but not DVD games. Having , said that, I don't have any chipped systems, so it makes no odds to me, i was just pointing out that i'd never seen any pirated games for any of the current systems

Is that the Co-op facing safa park next to Choitrams and Maccy D's? I'll have a butchers in there next time i'm down that way.

[DeathAdder]

Yep, that's the one. There is, or used to be, a little kiosk on the top floor. Do you live in that area? My parents live very new the supposedly new Spinneys a little further up the road away from Dubai.

I only remember seeing GBA and DS games, but not having any chipped or PAL home consoles, I never looked for disk games. I know what you mean about the bargain bins. Carrefour sometimes has games only a few months old for about 77 dirhams in its bins.

[NemesiS]

You mean the Spinneys up Al Wasl Rd near Um Suquiem past jumeriah 3. I don't get down there unless i'm off to the Lime tree Cafe as the traffic in the week makes me want to commit suicide. I work in the Marina right facing the Palm. I live in Mirdif where they have this little game shop called, "Games Arena" which is surprisingly snappy at getting new titles in. I've actually been in there on a few occasions to see they have in titles for the 360 or PS3 that i know haven't even been released in the UK. Just stupidly expensive.